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-   -   Bangalore - Kanyakumari NH7 : Route Queries (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/56197-bangalore-kanyakumari-nh7-route-queries-4.html)

hvkumar, The last time I drove to Tirunelveli about 3 months ago, the 4-laning near Tirunelveli comes to an abrupt end and there was a town next to Tirunelveli and we have to drive inside the town. Do you say that all these is completed and we have a seamless drive in 4-lane upto KK? In case of Tirunelveli, do we still have the 4-lane inside the town too or is there a by pass?

Thanks for your help

Tirunelveli bypass was completed a month or so ago, the incomplete flyover before Kayathar is also complete and except the last few kms into KK town, all is complete. Mine is an update from 2 days ago.

Tirunelveli - this is a brand-new bypass, not the old bypass. You can take this for detours to Tuticorin also.

hvkumar Sir, I take a bow. Thanks for this excellent piece of news. I really wonder how you keep yourself so much updated on the road conditions in any part of the country while your residence is up north. You truly are a phenomenon that nobody can match

By the way, if you are travelling down south, please let me know when you drive past Bangalore and it would be a privilege to shake hands with you atleast.

gopikb, thanks for the praise! Whenever I guide people on routes, I also generally keep track of their drives and they are happy to give me feedback. In this case, a friend of mine from Pune had driven down in his Safari 2 days ago to KK. 3 other friends who have also driven on this route this month also confirmed to me this happy news; since I had driven down myself on this road in both Nov 09 and Jan 10, I was only interested in the update on the Kayathar, Tirunelveli bypass and the last mile into KK.

There are couple of small flyovers near Tirunelveli where the side stoppers are not yet in place. Also there are no markers indicating the edges. Hence if one is driving during night, it is easy to miss the bridge boundaries. No issues during day time.

That's excellent news Kumar. Passing Tirunelvelli town was the major hiccup in doing KK. Now it should cut down travel time by 30 mins or so I would guess.

Any places to eat on NH7 after Madurai? When I did this route in Dec 09 there was nothing.

Thanks hvkumar. The plans looks like Blr >> Palani >> Kanyakumari >> Rameshwaram >> Trichy >> Bangalore in 5 days. I will keep this thread updated once the trip is complete.

For KK-Rameswaram, you can take the coastal road all along via Tiruchendur (moderately good), Tuticorin (fairly good) and then the new East Coast Road via Vembar, Sikkal and Kizhakarai (super) to Ramanathapuram and Rameswaram.

See this thread for discussion on places to eat. Near Tirunelveli, towards the town there are some. Just before Madurai, there is a Ghar Dhaba.

Your posts always contain valuable information.. Thank you. I'll stick to the route and update with pics..

Been there Done that !! 1600 kms of magnificent drive. I have the sunday to spare for the writeup.. Will post the experience with pics tomorrow

Congrats!!! waiting for a write-up:thumbs up

Have done BLR-Nagercoil a few times. Fantastic roads. Have seen the worst in 2008 with so much of construction going on near Namakkal and Dindigul. By end of 2009 it is all silky smooth road. One can do BLR - Madurai in 6-6.5 hours peacefully. The traffic is sparse and it is a four lane divided carriageway all through. Watchout near Salem for some construction work.

Madural to Nagercoil - the traffic is even more sparse, and one can do good speeds safely. There was construction going on near Kavalkinaru - but beyond Kavalkinaru till Nagercoil it is two lane way. There is a deviation at Kavalkinaru to go to Kanyakumari which is NH7 and that road is fantastic.

The only thing to watch out in these stretches are for morons coming in the wrong side of the road. Two wheelers are even more dangerous that they cut across to take turns as if nothing can stop them. Have had some harrowing experiences with them and I always slow down if I see a two wheeler on those highways.

Eateries on the way are almost none beyond Salem. I had to go inside Madurai city to have food. But once inside the city there are many choices. But recently quiet a few hotels have opened up in NH7 itself. There is a GRT hotel on NH7 itself. One more resort owned by Azagiri has opened up in Tirumangalam, on nH7. Dont remember the name but they kept a stall at Forum mall, Bangalore advertising themselves.

Nainar

You are right anainar. There is a deviation to the left to go to kanyakumari and the straight road leads you to Nagercoil. I think from that deviation Nagercoil is ~ 20 kms if i'm not mistaken.

As the NH 7 continues till Kanyakumari the last part of the NH-7 is still underconstruction and there is a deviation to the left that will take one through the fields and then onto the Kanyakumari town.
Anyway.. I am detailing my experiences at the following thread .. for those of you who would like to follow up ..
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ella-trip.html:)

My inlaws' place is near Panagudi, which is on NH7 some 25kms before Kanyakumari. Myself and wife have made several trips in the years past on my trust 2005 Zen and the journey usually takes 12-13 hrs.
Last couple of years we were not in India, and we returned last month. We did this trip again over this past weekend as I was eager to check out the newly completed 4-laned NH7.

THIS IS INCREDIBLE. The road is silky smooth, does not go through Dharmapuri, Madurai, Virudunagar etc as we used to in the old alignmnet., fenced where required, and close to zero traffic. We live at Hosur, and leaving at 3pm on Friday, I was there at their place by 12 midnight after may be an hour's stoppages.. 8hrs run time is truly incredible.
Returning on Sunday, we left at 7am, reached a relative's home in Tirunelveli in 30mins(earlier takes an hour or more), spent an hour breakfasting there, left at 8.30AM from Tirunelveli, and were at our home in Hosur at 4PM. Again, we did stop here and there, probably totalilng 30-45 mins. So run time is again little less than 8hrs.. I couldn't believe it myself, but it is true. Now we can make more frequent trips.
If I could do this in my puny Zen, I'm sure faster bigger cars could do it in 7hrs from Hosur to Kanyakumari!!!!!!!! Unbelieivable., and the open roads are quite safe if you are alert.

Suresh.